Merlinfic: The Bus Stop 15/??
Author: destiny_chicken
Title Not Always What It Seems To Be
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Arthur/Merlin
Character/s: Arthur, Merlin, Mordred, Uther
Summary:Arthur and Mordred meet with Uther to discuss the audit findings.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1095 this chapter
Author's Notes Thank you to inspired_being for beta'ing my story.
The next day, Mordred entered Arrhur's office confidently. "Arthur. Do you have the documents for the software approval that were missing?"
Arthur studied the auditor. What did he hope to gain by faking the expenditure, beyond having Arthur fail the audit? Was it a personal vendetta? Arthur couldn't recall much interaction with Mordred prior to the audit, much less anything that could inspire such vitriol. "No, we haven't found the approval yet,” Arthur stated, his voice exasperated. “Can we have some more time? Are we able to postpone the meeting with my father?" he asked, worry projected from his face and in his voice.
As Arthur expected, Mordred was not accommodating. "Don't you remember? Uther is heading to New York tomorrow to tour the American offices. He'll be gone for two weeks. He wants this audit wrapped up before he leaves, so today is it!"
"Damn,” Arthur said passionately and then sighed. “I guess I'll just have to fall on my sword in front of Father and admit there must be a hole in our approval process," Arthur concluded for Mordred's sake.
"I recommend you put together an action plan to patch that process and have it ready for the noon meeting with Uther." With that statement, Mordred left Arthur's office.
~~~
Arthur and Gwaine were leaving Arthur's office, when Merlin heard his boss say with irritation, "Com'on, Merlin. We don't want to be late for the meeting with my father."
"What? You want me to come?"
"Yes, you were integral in the investigation. You should see the results first hand." Merlin was again surprised that Arthur was treating him like a colleague, not his subordinate. He liked that.
As the trio was escorted into Uther's conference room, they found Mordred already present and engaging in small talk with Uther.
Uther broke off the chit-chat and declared, "Now that Arthur's here, we can start."
Mordred stepped to the far end of Uther's conference table, and used the remote to start his presentation.
"We're here today to review the audit findings for the UK operating unit, headed by Arthur Pendragon. First I'll cover the scope of the audit, then the sampling done and finally the conclusions."
As Mordred droned on, Merlin kept his eyes on Arthur seated across the table. While his face was neutral, his body language spoke of his confidence. He sat easy in the chair, shoulders back and arms relaxed. His blue eyes were leveled at Mordred. Merlin's mind drifted back to the kiss in the car and his gaze focused on Arthur's lips, rosy and slightly chapped. He wanted to soothe them with his tongue and taste Arthur's mouth again.
Mordred started to talk about the missing approval for the software purchase, which made Merlin turned his attention back to the presentation. "Arthur was unable to provide approval documentation for this large expenditure."
Uther leaned forward in his chair. "What do you have to say about this, Arthur?"
Arthur stood and faced his father. "The reason there is no approval paperwork is simple, really. It's because the expenditure never took place in January 2011. As a matter of fact, it never took place at all. This entry in the ledger was fabricated by someone using Mordred's user ID." Arthur turned to face Mordred accusingly. He gestured towards Gwaine seated beside him. "I have Gwaine Green from the I.T. department here who can swear that it was a manual entry made in the ledger last week."
Merlin expected Mordred to sputter defensively, but he just frowned, still calm and collected. It was Uther who unexpectedly laughed and Merlin saw he was smiling as he said, "Well played, Arthur. I didn't think you would find the evidence of Mordred's deception. You've proven me wrong."
Arthur's face was screwed up in bewilderment. "I don't understand, sir. You knew about the fake entry in the ledger?"
"Of course I knew about it. It was I who directed Mordred to do it."
"But why?"
"It was a test for you, Arthur. To see how you would react to the missing documents and whether you could ferret out the truth of the ledger entry."
Arthur's brow was furrowed and he held his body stiffly. His anger was boiling just below the surface. "You felt it necessary to test my reactions?"
"Yes. I need to be sure you can defend yourself and the company from internal and external attacks. This can be a cutthroat business. You know you are in line to become the CEO when I retire someday. I need to be sure this company will be in capable hands."
Arthur spat out between clenched teeth, "I would have appreciated more faith in my abilities." He turned to leave the conference room and Merlin and Gwaine jumped up out of their seats to join him in exiting.
~~~
Arthur's anger spilled out when he reached his office. He slammed the door shut, but Merlin boldly opened it and slipped into the office. He didn't think Arthur should be alone when he was this angry.
"I can't believe it. He set this up just to test me. You know how much time and effort we put into this audit," he protested to Merlin, who stood near the door in case he needed to make a quick escape. Arthur flung his crutches aside and plopped in his chair.
"I think I've demonstrated before that I'm perfectly capable of leading this company. Why he thinks he needs to put me through such an exercise, I don't know."
Merlin tentatively offered, "Maybe he just has a mental image of you and your abilities from when you were younger that he can't seem to overcome?" To himself, he said, 'Why am I defending Uther? To help Arthur find some peaceful accord in his relationship with his father, I guess.' Having grown up without a father, Merlin felt the distress between Arthur and his father keenly. He didn't want Arthur to lose his relationship with Uther, even if it wasn't the best relationship.
Arthur sighed heavily and stated, "You're right, Merlin. My father doesn't see me as I am now. He still thinks of me as an impetuous and rebellious teenager. I've matured since then, but he doesn't see it." He paused, regarding Merlin closely. "You know, you can be very wise at times."
Merlin smiled at the praise from Arthur. "You're very perceptive to notice. Most people don't see anything beyond the surface of a slightly clumsy geek. So, we have that in common--people don't see us as we really are."
~~~